QAT chief for women emancipation and empowerment

The president of Quami Awami Tehreek (QAT) Mr Ayaz Latif Palijo has stressed on bringing at fore, the role of women as no society can progress without their participation. He was addressing a women convention and a mammoth public gathering organized by Sindhiani Tehreek in Kot Ghulam Mohammad town in Mirpurkhas district late Saturday night. Ayaz Latif maintained that the feudal lords and their cronies had turned the entire Sindh into the slaughterhouses for the women and the religious minorities without any let or check adding he asked the participants of the gathering to offer their stiff resistance to snatch back their usurped basic rights.

” The women and weaker segments of Sindh are now making inroads in every field of life” he added and said that the day was not so far away when they would drag out the few people with criminal mindset from their hideouts. Mr Palijo said that he was optimistic about the right future of the girls, who were at the forefront to awaken their sisters. He castigated the feudal lords for not letting the women folk take part in any struggle for the rights of the province. He said that the country could never be prosperous and progressive as was envisaged by Quad-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and other founding fathers with the active participation of the women in the decision and law making.

” We are still lagging far behind in getting true democracy” he added and asked the leaders including Imran Khan, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and others to play their active role to ensure the democratic values both in their parties in governance. ” We are against the torture and violent acts in the name of the politics and incidents like the ones happened in Islamabad yesterday will only bring bad name for the democracy and Pakistan” he added and asked the politicians to act like the role models of the people of the country by their actions and deeds. He said that the people of Singh had always rendered invaluable sacrifices for the true democracy but they had to face the corrupt practices by the successive rulers, who according to him, came into the power corridors due the struggle of the common people.

The QAT chief asked the federal government to honour its commitments and provide the required share of irrigation water and electricity to Sindh. He alleged that the agriculture sector of Sindh stood paralyzed due to flawed policies of the rulers while in the uncontrolled price hike and inflation had already broken the back of the people from lower and middle class. He said that the cottage industry of the province was long ago destroyed and governments had no concrete and comprehensive plans and policies to revive the sick industrial zones across the province. “

We all are against the religious and sect rain terrorism” he said and added that people of Sindh would never allow some elements to tarnish the image of Sindh and Pakistan. Mr Palijo dwelt at length on the role of women in Sindhi society in the past and present and asked the women participants to shape their future in the light of the teachings of the thinkers and poets. Referring to female characters of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, he said that the Sufi poet had glamorised Suhni who used to go to meet her beloved despite warnings by her husband. Today, he said, women are condemned even for expressing their will to marry a man of their choice.

Similarly, Mr Palijo said, Sassui loved Punhoon although he did not belong to her clan. Today women don’t have any right to express their desire to marry someone not belonging to their community, he added. Palijo said that despite some strict laws the government had failed to curb the terrible trend of the child and enforced marriages adding the asked the participants to play their role to identify such cases at all available forums. Munwar Jatoi, Ms Zeenat Samoon, Mazhar Rahujo, Ms Nahid Jogi, Ms Najma Arain, Advocate Shahnawaz Hingorjo, Kirarr Rebari, Nabi Bux Leghari, Ms Saba Samoon and others also spoke on the occasion.